PHIL WROCHNA is managing editor of firstoffthebike.com and Radio SEN's cycling commentator. He will be filing daily for BPL during the Tour.

There's something about the month of July. For most of the southern hemisphere it means shivering through another winter. But for those in Europe it means one thing: Tour de France.

Of course this year it's a little different with the World Cup still being contested so there will be some competition. But few sports capture the drama and excitement of a Tour de France. And this year is no exception. There are a number of sub-plots running through this year's race - such as Stage 3 which is being raced over 13 kilometres of cobblestones, for the first time since 2004 - and some of these will take the entire three weeks to unfold.

But for now let's try and take a general look at the grand tour: the contenders, the Australians, the course and the cobblestones.

The contenders ...

Alberto Contador - Hands down the most talented bike rider in the world. His time trialing has really taken off giving him another string to his bow.

Lance Armstrong - His last Tour. His mental strength can never be underestimated.

Frank Schleck - In good form after a win in the Tour de Suisse but might have peaked too early.

Andy Schleck - Hardly sighted this season Andy Schleck climbs like an angel but we haven't seen that yet.

Brad Wiggins - Big mover last season. At a press conference he told the media he wasn't on drugs, he'd just been training harder.

Roman Kreuziger - Dark horse. Each year he gets stronger. His 9th in 2009 signaled his talent.

Ivan Basso - The winner of the Giro d'Italia (pictured, above) may have no legs for this but the double has been known to happen.

Cadel Evans - The world champion is on a new team and has a better look about him this year.

Mick Rogers - Rogers is finally out of the wilderness. His biggest problem is that he has Mark Cavendish on his team and split teams rarely work. Oh and Tony Martin could challenge for leadership. But he won the Tour of California on 90% form according to him.

Denis Menchov - The aging warhorse is on his last legs. His month of July is usually an interesting ride and keeping the bike upright will be his first order of business.

Carlos Sastre - Mystery surrounds this guy after his Giro was less than spectacular. Pound for pound, the best climber in the world when he's on. His Tour last season was horrible.

Want to bet on it?

The course ...

1 prologue of 8.9km

9 flat stages (one of which is the longest at 227.5km)

6 mountain stages and 3 summit finishes

4 medium mountain stages

1 individual time-trial stage (52 km)

2 rest days

25 Category 1, Category 2 and Hors Category Mountain passes.

A race with a twist in 2010 ...

This year, the 3rd stage, Wanze-Arenberg Porte du Hainaut, will include seven cobbled sectors over a total distance of 13,150 metres. The riders have not raced over cobblestones since 2004. The seven sectors will be divided up as follows:

3 sectors over a total distance of 2,250 metres in Belgium;

4 sectors over a total distance of 10,900 metres in France.

The last five times that cobbled sectors were included on the Tour programme, the total number of kilometres was as follows: 1982: 16,9km - 1983: 28,4 km - 1985: 10,5 km - 1989: 8,5 km - 2004: 3,9 km.

Aussies on Tour ...

Mick Rogers - Team HTC Columbia

Adam Hansen - Team HTC Columbia

Mark Renshaw - Team HTC Columbia

Stuart O'Grady - Team Saxo Bank

Luke Roberts - Team Milram

Matt Lloyd - Omega Pharma-Lotto

Brett Lancaster - Cervelo Test Team

Simon Gerrans - Sky Professional Racing Team

Robbie McEwen - Team Katusha

Cadel Evans - BMC Racing Team

Wesley Sulzberger - Francaise des Jeux

A glossary of useful terms ...

Autobus - Also known as the groupetto this is the group of riders at the back of the race in the mountain stages. Usually made up of sprinters and other non-climbers, and the aim is simply to finish within the day's time limit.

Breakaway - A rider or group of riders who have a lead over the main bunch during a stage.

Bunch sprint - The mass dash for the line at the end of a stage when the whole race is still together. Despite the name, a bunch sprint isn't contested by the whole field - the riders at the front are the specialist sprinters and their lead-out men.

Time Trial - The race of truth, the race against the clock.

Directeur sportif - Basically this guy is the team manager.

Domestique - Domestiques are the worker bees of a team, responsible for looking after the team leader and the other stars. Domestiques ferry food and water to their team leaders, provide a wheel for the leader to follow and in extreme cases even surrender their bikes if the leader has a mechanical problem.

Lanterne rouge - The last rider on General Classification.

Musette - The little cloth shoulder bag handed up to riders at feeding stations, containing food and water bottles.

Parcours - Simply meaning the race route; the literal translation from French is "course".

Peloton - This French word simply means 'group'. The main group is called the peloton or bunch.

Soigneur - A member of team staff who looks after the riders, performing duties such as giving massages, handing up water bottles, seeing that riders get to their hotels and so on.

Tempo - 'Riding tempo' means setting the pace for the peloton or for another rider, usually at a high but not excessive level.

UCI - Union Cycliste Internationale - the world governing body of bike racing, based in Switzerland.

(Latest TAB Sportsbet Odds ...

$1.50 Alberto Contador
$5.50 Andy Schleck
$12    Lance Armstrong
$16    Bradley Wiggins
$19    Ivan Basso
$24    Cadel Evans
$26    Robert Gesink
$31   Denis Menchov)